Dylan Hartley’s participation at the 2015 Rugby World Cup is under a cloud of doubt after the announcement on Tuesday evening that the Northampton hooker had been cited for an alleged head-butt on Saracens opposite man Jamie George.
For those that haven’t seen it, you can view the incident below. It is not the most aggressive of head-butts, but given Hartley’s chequered disciplinary past there is a real chance that he will be hit with a sizeable ban.
Video credit: pujaemuss
Bans for striking an opponent start at four weeks and range to four months. Mitigating factors can include a guilty plea or provocation, but given that his side had just rumbled over the line for a try at the time, the latter is unlikely to work. And given his abominable track record, a guilty plea doesn’t exactly do much to suggest genuine remorse.
Fans of irony will note that the man on the receiving end of Hartley’s latest piece of lunacy, Jamie George, would likely be the man called up should Hartley see his World Cup go up in flames.
And given his past, a ban of some sort is not unlikely. The Northampton hooker famously missed the 2013 Lions tour to Australia after receiving a lengthy ban for abusing referee Wayne Barnes in the Premiership final earlier that summer.
After that incident, he said of Lancaster and England: “I understand he can’t keep giving me a chance. I’m basically on my last chance in that set-up. That is fully understood.”
It will be fascinating to see how Lancaster handles this latest case of one of his players’ indiscretions. The recent Manu Tuilagi saga highlighted his zero tolerance policy on poor discipline away from the pitch, but given this happened in the heat of battle it may be treated differently.
That said, when Hartley was banned for three weeks way back in November for elbowing Leicester centre Matt Smith, Lancaster had this to say: “I’ll be making it absolutely crystal clear to Dylan, one to one, that discipline has to be top notch.”
To be fair to Hartley, since that incident he has been on best behaviour. But his form has also dropped away this season, almost like he has taken his aggression levels down a notch. It may have stopped any more disciplinary incidents, but it has also made him a much less effective carrier and tackler.
Against Saracens, he seemed back to his best. The controlled anger that makes him such a dangerous player was back. But then he allowed it to spill over again and head-butted George. England simply cannot go into a World Cup with one of their most senior players unable to draw the line between what is legitimate aggression and what oversteps the line.
Hartley may well have had his final drink in Lancaster’s last chance saloon.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
Is it just me that thinks this is daft? How is that even classed as a headbutt?
Hartleys record will go against him but it will be absolute madness if he even receives a ban, let alone a substantial one.
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I don’t know how it can be deemed anything but a headbutt. He leans forward at Jamie George and makes first contact with his head…
Ask yourself, if it is not a headbutt, what is it? …A trip? An accidental collision? I can’t come up with another classification as there is clearly a deliberate movement towards him.
They are both at walking pace & it’s after the whistle, just step aside and walk back to the half way line. You’ve made the statement by scoring anyway.
Granted, it’s not the most sever incident and we’ll probably see worse on a rugby pitch. But it’s just completely senseless
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Was thinking the same – he leasn forward.
outside a headbutt, only option I can think is that he is going for an intimidating chest/shoulder bump, and gets it a tiny bit wrong. That would not be illegal, but completely unecessary given the try.
only defence is that there is no dip of the head, George has his head down and Hartley seems to follow through with his belly. Not sure he will(or should) get the benefit of the doubt.
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Yeah it looks like nothing in the video, hardly even a headbutt, more of a barge really. But it looked pretty unprovoked, and you don’t get away with this shit any more in the modern game, and rightly so.
In the wider context – and given Dylan’s history – it makes him a massive liability. If he picks up a red in one of the key group games in RWC, it could be the difference between us topping our group, and having a serious shot at getting to the semis at least, or hitting SA in the quarters (or worse going out in the group).
With Cowan-Dickie knocking at the door, this was a bloody stupid move. A ban of more than a month and I think he’s out of the running. Lancaster has to draw the line.
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Hartley is a liability. If his form was great this season you could make a case to overlook it but it hasn’t been. Tom Youngs is a better bet and both Jamie George and the guy from Chiefs are more deserving of inclusion than Hartley.
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The problem is not the force of the head butt, but the intent behind it – especially if unprovoked. If he did this exact thing in front of a ref at the World Cup then it could be a yellow, or a red, and then England could be in trouble.
As much as I respect him as a player (and dislike him cordially as a person), I think he may have just proved, again, that he lacks the temperament to keep himself on the straight and narrow when under pressure at the highest level.
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Hartley has not been particularly impressive this season. I would hope that he is not considered 1st choice any more, so not too huge a loss.
Agree with the above that it is not clearly a headbut, but in the view from above it does look like he leans in. I will wait for the panel before I leap to heavily, BUT if Hartley is found guilty that has got to be the end of his world cup. Both Cowan-Dickie and George are more than able replacements.Argueable both on better form, and Cowan-Dickie was a huge presence in the under 20s.
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My issue is simple. I don’t care if it was an accidental trip forehead first or the more traditional Glaswegian kiss he made contact with another player after the whistle. Even this I could over look but then you look at the history. 50 weeks banned in his career. Omission from the lions. I remember last autumn against the all black on the English five meter and the ref screaming don’t stamp on him. Good olde Hartley stamps on him.
I’m a huge fan of him but imagine if this is the quarter final, the pool game against Wales, the final! We can’t afford to lose a hooker for 10 or even a red. My opinion is drop him now and bring in Jamie George. Hartley is probably the best hooker we have but we can’t trust him not to see red and damage the team.
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if found guilty then of course his (diabolical) disciplinary record should be considered when delivering a punishment. However the incident itself should be judged on merit irrespective of his history. On which basis I really think this is a storm-in-a-tea-cup and the issue should be dropped…
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The guy is a liability and that is bottom line!
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In the northern hemisphere it seems very rare for the citing commission to drop a case entirely and find players not guilty. This does not bode well for Hartley given his record. He seems unable to change and learn lessons.
Fortunately we do have Tom Youngs bang in form and two young hookers making waves. Furthermore if Rob Webber is good enough for England, why isn’t Ross Batty? He does now seem to be ahead at Bath.
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The point is whether you think it’s a headbutt or not, there is intent, as he’s leaning in with his head, and it could have been avoided. I can’t see him getting away with it, but whatever the punishment is, it’s not going to be as bad as losing his place in the squad in a World Cup year.
On the plus side, he could be replaced by a player who has probably been the most consistent hooker in the Premiership this season. The irony being that it’s the player he headbutted!!
One man’s loss is another man’s gain and all that!
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Wasn’t this re-looked at by the video ref during the game and he decided no action was necessary? Or am I thinking of Hartley’s tackle on BV?
If it was re-looked at, it’s been dealt with and should not have been cited unless new evidence had come to light suggesting a serious mistake was made.
Either way, this is a fuss over nothing and looks more like a barge than a head butt
But as is pointed out above, serious or not, Hartley should know that he’ll get castigated for any actions that are not 100% squeaky-clean.
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Yep, good point, it was indeed reviewed by the video ref at the time! Was correctly viewed as nothing more than light handbags…
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During the game they only review the incident from the angle on the other side, check it out on premiershiprugby.tv on the full match re-run and go to 01:16:36, the footage above is taken from the game footage from when the TV is replaying the try scoring, that doesn’t get shown to the TMO/Ref when they are doing the review. Personally I think that it looks worse from the angle above (not saying that above is particularly criminal), the one they review in the game, it is not even clear that there is head contact.
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Don’t worry England fans…………..Don’t worry……………. the RFU will yet again conjure a minimal ban or a ‘case not to answer response’ that does not impact on Mr Pigface’s involvement in the England team at RWC 2015.
I have stated more than once that the RFU/English Establishment always……….. always…………… looks after its own.
Rest assured England fans the 6th ban for violent conduct will run for bits of July and part of Aug a most and Mr Pigsy WILL be wearing the Turd Shirt at RWC 2015…… if not I’lll eat my hat like Paddy Pantsdown didn’t after ‘Call me DAVE’ won the GE 2015.
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What are you talking about… the RFU always looks after its own? Like Tuilagi has been dropped for the World Cup or when Danny Care was banned?
Hartley has been banned for 4 (match) weeks, from 15 August to 21 September so would miss all our World Cup warm up matches and the Fiji game. He will be lucky to even make the squad now.
Please stop posting such absolute bollocks.
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Answer the following Henry …
1:Bollocks like Dylan Hartley getting banned for the 5th time and it ending just b 4 the 6N 2015 so he could play a full part for England?
True or bollocks?
2: Bollocks like stating Hartley would get a short ban for the head butt and be available for RWC 2015.
True or bollocks?
3: Bollocks like the RFU banned 4 international players for their part in the battle of Cardiff and all 4 players were reinstated after missing 1 England game but were back in time to play at RWC 1987.
True or bollocks?
4: Bollocks like Wade Dooley was user of violence in that 1987 match and he broke Phil Davies’ cheekbone in 3 places?
True or Bollocks?
4: Bollocks like the RFU taking a court injunction against the BBC to stop them showing Wade Dooley perforating ear drum of a Scottish player off the ball in 1992. The BBC was making a programme on violence in sport so only artist’s drawings of the footage could be used not actual rugby footage of Dooley’s violent assault.
True or bollocks?
5: Bollocks like Lancashire Police allowing Wade Dooley to keep his job after the ran over a teenage girl (fracturing her skull in the process) when he was twice the drink drive limit.
True or bollocks?
6: Bollocks like Wade Dooley now being citing officer for the RFU despite his appalling on the field and the accident whilst under the influence.
True or bollocks?
7: Bollocks like Leicestershire Police not releasing any info at all on the Tuilagli case and we are only aware of it because of the court reporting of the case
True or Bollocks?
8: Compare the treatment of the guilty Tuilagi to the treatment of Cliff Richard and Freddie Starr where their names were released by the police and the news crews were filming the
police search of a man’s house who has never actually been charged.
Unlike Tuilagi who pleaded guilty to 3 assaults and 1 criminal damage. And the Leiccester Boys in Blue kept it under wraps for as long as possible.
Truth or Bollocks?
8:The RFU has always made sure England players guilty of violence on the field/crimes off it are got back into their England jerseys asap.
In the case of Wade Dooley the RFU even gave him a job and Tuilagi has been told he’ll be back for 6n 2015
Truth or Bollocks?
Yep that the sort of bollocks I talk about..total utter bollocks..its called the FACTS.
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Hello Prophet,
where can one buy tickets to this hat eating extravaganza?
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Leon
Dylan Hartley has not been dropped and will play in World Cup 2015..the ban expires after the first England game.
Therefore exactly as I predicted he will be available just like the RFU made him available for the 6n after his previous ban expired in time foe him to get his final final final final warning fron Lancaster.
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Hartley has received a 4 week ban stopping him from playing 1 RWC game – TRUTH
You said “the RFU will yet again conjure a minimal ban or a ‘case not to answer response’ that does not impact on Mr Pigface’s involvement in the England team at RWC 2015” – BOLLOCKS
Ban doesn’t start until the world cup prep games – TRUTH
You said “Rest assured England fans the 6th ban for violent conduct will run for bits of July and part of Aug at most” – BOLLOCKS
A decision is still pending on whether Hartley will appear at the RWC – TRUTH
You said “Mr Pigsy WILL be wearing the Turd Shirt at RWC 2015…… if not I’ll eat my hat like Paddy Pantsdown didn’t after ‘Call me DAVE’ won the GE 2015” – probably bollocks
Do you want to settle of half a hat now or are you going to chance your arm on a whole hat later
Interestingly Yoann Huget who clearly stamped on another player face, an act which should by the letter of the law earn him a very long ban indeed, hasn’t even been cited so who’s really protecting their world cup interests over the interests of the game France or England
p.s. what sort of hats do you wear
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Breaking news is that he has been dropped from the training squad, looks like the whole hat then!
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Banned for four games, will miss first game of RWC, not sure he’ll be in the squad now!
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On watching the video I couldn’t quite make out if he hit with his head first or his chest. But then I saw the lead photo on the Telegraph story and it’s pretty clear! The four week ban gives Lancaster a dilemma, maybe he wished it was longer and so didn’t have a decision to make about Hartley’s World Cup inclusion. I say get rid of him, a complete liability. And get George into the squad, he deserves it and doesn’t go round head butting opponents for no reason!
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On watching the video I couldn’t quite make out if he hit with his head first or his chest. But then I saw the lead photo on the Telegraph story and it’s pretty clear! The four week ban gives Lancaster a dilemma, maybe he wished it was longer and so didn’t have a decision to make about Hartley’s World Cup inclusion. I say get rid of him, a complete liability. And get George into the squad, he deserves it and doesn’t go round head butting opponents for no reason!
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It’s a regime where you get dropped for not buying into standards of behaviour even off the field. If being role models for rugby fans, players and future players is considered as highly as previous decisions have implied then he has to be dropped.
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If behaviour and calm in a storm are Lancaster prerequisites then he should be dropped!
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I can’t help but feel that the very minor nature of this “headbutt” makes it even worse. What I mean is that if the red-mist descended and he launched a real violent butt, or threw some punches, perhaps in response to some niggle, or a physical attack, one could understand. Not condone, just understand it.
Because it is so pathetically unremarkable, particularly for such a powerful man, I have to wonder what sort of thought process is going on. To me, it is this that is of a far higher concern that any “track record”.
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Tough for SL now, Matt B is right I think a longer ban would have been easier for him. Although it might appeal to keep his experience and leadership around I don’t think he can justify a passenger in such a physical position – for me he has to choose between Batty and George now for his place in the camp
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All very well to talk about “experience and leadership”, but surely a large part of this is leading by example? Anyway just heard he’s been canned so that’s that…
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He stays in the squad for me. Still the best hooker we have even if he isn’t in his best form; I know which hooker I want throwing darts in a WC knock out game.
He only misses the Fiji game, which is a game which will actually suit Youngs more anyway so it is a non-issue.
Match fitness may well be; but he will be training at a high intensity day in day out (with something to prove), so I’m sure he’ll be ready.
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